


A Different Start

by dob



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 16:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10994229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dob/pseuds/dob
Summary: "You give off the impression that you want to murder every person you look at." Ben took a sip from his cup as he looked down at the girl with blonde hair with purple tips. He noticed her from across the room, standing in the corner of the house. The first thing that caught his eye was how she seemed so uninterested in the party around her - not that he could really blame her. He had to ditch Audrey first but as soon as he was able to get free he made his way over to her.She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, "Maybe because I want too." Her eyes traveled up and down the length of his body. It's not something he wasn't used too but having her do it felt different.





	A Different Start

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: No preview or read threw. I've always wanted to write a Bal modern!au  
> Word count: 6,818

"You give off the impression that you want to murder every person you look at." Ben took a sip from his cup as he looked down at the girl with blonde hair with purple tips. He noticed her from across the room, standing in the corner of the house. The first thing that caught his eye was how she seemed so uninterested in the party around her - not that he could really blame her. He had to ditch Audrey first but as soon as he was able to get free he made his way over to her.

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, "Maybe because I want too." Her eyes traveled up and down the length of his body. It's not something he wasn't used too but having her do it felt different.

"I'm Ben. Parker." He held out a hand to her. Instead of returning the hand shake, she just stared at before looking back at him unimpressed. "...Okay." He cleared his throat. "And you are?"

But no answer came - though he really wasn't sure an answer would come - because Audrey found him again. "There you are Benny Boo!" Holding back a grown he looked over at her, forcing a smile. "Come on, Chad wants to play beer pong." Her eyes traveled over to the girl beside him, "Oh." He watched as Audrey's face formed into her famous fake smile, "Hello."

"Hi," Ben looked over at her, seeing that she was returning the fake smile with the same coolness, if not more.

"You must be the girl Evie brought with her, Meg was it?" Anyone who knew Audrey knew that she purposely was getting the name wrong, which was how Ben knew that for sure the blonde girl's name was _not_ Meg.

"Mal. And you must be Landrey?" Ben looked down, a smile spreading on his face. But it wasn't a smile of amusement, occasionally when he was feeling quite uncomfortable Ben would smile, looking everywhere but at the situation causing the feeling. It helped him deal with it, weirdly.

"Audrey." The tension between the two of them thickened, making him feel as if he was suffocating.

"Mal!" The surprising thing was that they were able to hear the call over the music. Without saying goodbye, Mal left them, moving towards the one that called her name, Evie. Now that she was gone, Ben wished that the tense awkward air was back because now Audrey's sights were back on him.

The rest of the party was kind of a dud, though he did win at beer pong, Audrey wouldn't leave his side and he didn't see Mal anywhere. He searched every corner, was moving constantly - answering Audrey's constant questions on why he's moving around as making his rounds to the people - and couldn't find her. Honestly, even to him it seemed kind of weird that he was searching so hard for her, there was just something about her that just drew him in.

That coming Monday, he finally saw her again. She was walking down the hall with Evie at her side as well as two kids from the lacrosse team, Jay and Carlos. It seems like she already found her group, though he couldn't be to surprised. Those four looked liked they belonged together.

For a split second, their eyes locked causing that feeling that made him want to find her at the party again rush through his body, that pull towards her.

He continued to watch her as she walked down the hall, talking to the others with only slight interest. As she turned the corner, she looked back at him with a smirk before completely disappearing out of his sight.

Letting out a sigh, he shut his locker. He was falling for a girl he barely spoke four words too.  
__

In fourth period science, he found out that the shared a class. Mr. Preston wasn't one to understand that kids didn't like being introduced in front of the whole class, telling people about themselves and feeling like they were on a pedestal. So before he really got the class started, he called upon her, making the whole class turn towards her. Ben could tell she wasn't liking the attention too much. But she gave the introduction none the less, sounding a bit rehearsed if he was being honest.

"I'm Mal, 16, just moved here, and my favorite subject is art." He tone held the same note of boredom and as soon as she finished she turned her attention to the notebook on her desk, her pencil gliding across it.

Of course Chad had to be the douche that he was, had to make a comment. "What? Do you like making dresses and doing your makeup?"

"I said art, not fashion. Though it looks like you could use some pointers in that department." she stared at him with a deadpan look, eyes flicking up and down at the clothes he was wearing, basketball shorts and Nike tee, crew socks high up his shin and runner's shoes. The literal Urban Dictionary definition of "fuckboy".

"This is the style," came Chad's reply, popping his shirt.

"Right, keep telling yourself that Fuckboy." And then she returned to her drawing, ignoring Mr. Preston as he scolded her for her use of language. The only real indication she gave that she heard anything he said was a tight smile when he placed a pink detention note on her desk before going on with the lesson.

"Wa-" Chad opened his mouth, not yet ready to let it go, but Ben kicked the back of his chair - hard - causing him to shut up.

"Mr. Parker, feet to yourself," Preston narrowed his eyes at him, giving a second of silence to let it sink in before continuing on with what it was he was teaching.

Chad still didn't let it go. At lunch, the next time Ben saw Mal, the interaction from science was brought up again. "Who the hell does she think she is? Calling me a fuckboy." The disgust was evident.

Looking up from his trey, Ben smiled over at his friend amused. "She's not exactly wrong Chad." The other boy pulled a face, picking up a fry from his own trey and tossing it at Ben, making a connection with his face. Ben's only response was to laugh.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, he turned to see Mal was watching him with an expression he couldn't quit read. Instead of turning away, like most would after being caught staring, she just smirked at him placing her head upon her hand. The only response he deemed appropriate was to smile back.

The rest of the week passed with casual glances in each other's direction, almost always catching each other's eye. They didn't speak really to one another, the only period they really shared that allowed that was lunch and they both seemed to have their own group to sit with - not that either of them tried to make a move towards the other - and in science they sat to far apart to really spike up a conversation if the opportunity presented itself.

They'd occasionally end up at the same parties but before he ever got a chance to go over there to strike up a conversation, she'd disappear. He'd search of course, but it seemed like she just left the party all together. The other three that he always saw her with we nowhere to be found either.

A month passed before he got the opportunity to talk to her again, he stopped her as soon as he walked through the door and he was going to make sure this time he got the chance to talk to her. He dodged Audrey, B-lining it into another room as soon as she started to make her way towards him, detouring his route to the person of interest. She was standing by the sliding glass doors to the back porch, a bit awkwardly, and he could only assume it was because she was waiting for someone.

As soon as he was in hearing distance, he spoke. "Hi." She looked up at him, a bemused smile appearing on her lips.

"Hi." He saw this twinkle in her eye and it made his heart jump. It's honestly weird, the feelings he gets around her.

"Do you -" he licked his lips, "do you wanna go outside?" All of a sudden he felt nervous, a feeling that he wasn't quit used too. He'll just have to chalk it up to the whole new experience he's been getting ever since he first laid eyes on Mal.

Her eyes narrowed again, something that he noticed she did a lot, before finally shrugging. "Sure." She looked over his shoulder, giving a small wave and a point at him before heading through the open sliding doors. He looked behind him to see Evie staring at them with a smirk of her own, Jay chatting up her ear.

Slowly, they made their way to the farthest corners of the yard, walking the edges. "So why did you move to Chicago?"

Looking up at him, she didn't answer for a long time and he was honestly about to just ask another question, act like the one before never happened, when she gave the most vague answer, "I had no choice."

"Right." He figured if she really wanted to give him the whole scoop, she would have right away. "How are you liking it so far? Good ol' Auradon High School."

"It's very much like every school I've been too, just with more sports for people to go testosterone crazy over."

A laugh escaped him, "Testosterone crazy?" He's never heard that one before.

Her only reply was to shrug.

They continued to walk, silence falling between the two of them but it wasn't uncomfortable. He enjoyed this, just walking around the perimeter with her, it was nice. The beautiful night sky, crisp air, and faded sounds of the party behind them, it was a great atmosphere.

"Jay mentioned you were the captain of the lacrosse team," her voice brought him back, his attention just before zooming into the moon above them, partly hidden behind a cloud.

"Yeah. I'm a striker." She seemed somewhat impressed by that, "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged again, "Never really cared too much for lacrosse. Or any sport."

"You don't really seem like a sport person."

She looked at him, eyebrow raised, "No?"

"No. You remind me more of those emo hipster art kids." Her eye brows raised at that, slowly loosing them behind her hair.

"Emo hipster art kids?"

He bobbed his head, "Yeah." His eyes flicked down and back up her body, eyeing the black skinning jeans, the purple and black leather jacket, the black and green band shirt. "Honestly, you could be the poster kid for emo hipster art kid."

"Yeah, okay, says the guy who looks like he belongs in a Hollister Ad." Ben's head dropped, eyeing his own outfit. Honestly, she probably wasn't wrong.

Looking back up at her, he smiled. "You got me there."

It was so easy to talk to her, words just slipping off his tongue, he honestly wasn't sure why he was nervous in the first place. Talking to her was felt like talking to someone he knew his whole life, except he didn't know her really at all, outside of the fact that her favorite subject was art, she's sixteen, and wasn't a fan of sports. But he wasn't going to worry about that now, he was just going to enjoy the conversation that he was having with her currently. It was good, it was easy, and he didn't want to ruin it by asking prying questions.

They continued talking, keeping towards the edge of the backyard, slowly turning and keeping a distance from the party so they could hear each other. But it didn't last long, Carlos deVil came sprinting up to them, "We're ditching." He didn't give any indication on who _we_ were but Ben had a good idea. It might have only been a week since Mal caught his eye but since then the only people he's ever seen her with were Carlos deVil, Jay Hammad, and Evie Mills. He saw her occasionally talk to his friend Doug but that had to do with Evie he's pretty sure. "It's lame here and Jay knows of a cool spot we can go."

Mal nodded, starting to follow Carlos before turning to look at Ben. She gave him a thoughtful look before nodding her head in the direction she was going. "You wanna come?"

Ben looked over at the party that was getting thrown by Chad, someone he considered his best friend even if he was an idiot, knowing that if he left he'd hear about it later. Chad had it in his mind that because they were best friends, Ben had to stick around the whole time whenever he threw a party and if they went to someone's house, Ben always owed him a game of beer pong. Ben never really got it himself but he went with it.

But he also knew that couldn't let this opportunity pass, he's been trying to talk to her for a month and now he was getting the chance to spend the night with her, he'd be stupid to let it slip through his fingers.

"Yeah," he set the solo cup in his hands on the ground and followed Mal around the side of the house to meet up with the rest of her group.

"Yo, Ben, what's up?" Jay's hand shot out, smacking him in the shoulder hard, causing him to stagger a little bit.

"Hey Jay," bringing a hand up to his shoulder, he looked down at Mal who was smirking at him. Of course she was.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, just staring at each other, when Evie cleared her voice. "How about we go? Chad was hitting on me earlier and I know it was just because he wanted someone to finish his math homework." Her hand went to her hair, swiping it over her shoulder. "I may love boys but I'm not desperate for a date."

Ben had to stop himself from bringing up Doug, someone who he honestly thought she was dating. Not that he ever asked Doug about it or anything, they just always seemed very couple-like. But he guesses he got the answer about them from that one comment there.

"Chad's still gonna hit on you until you tell him no or have a boyfriend." Was what Ben said instead.

They all pilled into Evie's car, heading out of the suburb and toward wherever this cool spot of Jay's was. Ben was in the back, sitting bitch between Jay and Carlos. He stayed quite as the other four talked, ducking every so often when Jay would reach other him to smack Carlos. That was an interaction he was used to, they were on the same lacrosse team and coach had to constantly get on them for causing ruckus. However, ducking didn't really protect him and he got hit a couple of times, not that Jay seemed to care.

"Dude," Mal's voice traveled from the front, "Stop. You're gonna scare him away." She looked back at them, narrowing her eyes at Jay.

"Scare Ben away? Pft. Captain can handle a little roughing up," and with that, an arm was thrown around Ben's neck and knuckles were digging into his skull.

"Jay." Her tone changed, enough to make Jay stop and sit straight up in his chair. Looking over at her, he moved a hand through his hair trying to fix it from the mess he knew it was turned into. "Nice look Einstein." She smirked, turning her attention back to the road.

His only response was to roll his eyes.

They ended up downtown, parking on the street and following Jay through an ally and up a fire escape to the top of a roof. As the other four were climbing the ladder, he stared up, not sure if he really wanted to do this. He's pretty sure it wasn't exactly legal doing what they were doing. But then Mal leaned over the railing, looking down at him "You coming?" and all of a sudden, hands were on the bars, pulling himself up the ladder. It seemed like tonight was the time to go with the flow - and do what he could to impress Mal.

As soon as he got to the top of the roof, his breath was taken away. The view was amazing, not like anything he's ever seen. "Wow."

"Wait till the sunset comes, it's amazing." He looked to his left to see Mal standing beside him, staring out at the sight in front of him. "The first time they took me up here, it took my break away."

The thing for Ben though was he was staring at her and he thought she was prettier than any lite up city at night. The expression on her face, the way her eyes twinkled, it made his heart hammer in his chest, trying to break out of it's change and drop in front of her. Like "here I am, take me."

"Yeah.." She looked up at him and pulled a face, her brow pulling together.

"What?"

He shook his head, smiling softly, "Nothing."

"Ow, Jay!" The yell broke whatever spell was over them, turning their attention to the other three, Jay having Carlos pinned on the ground, Evie seemingly unfazed, typing away on her phone. "Why?!"

"You don't question Jay!" And just like he did to Ben in the car, Jay brought his knuckles up to Carlos' head and started quickly rubbing it back and forth. Without thinking, Ben moved his hand to his head remembering how that felt.

He leaned down closer to Mal, "Does he always talk in third person?"

She shrugged, "Only when he feels like his masculinity is being questioned."

"So often."

"Yeah," she laughed, tugging on his sleeve as she moved to join the rest of them.

For most of the night, he just sat on the roof's edge with Mal and Evie, watching as Jay and Carlos did whatever it was that Jay and Carlos did. Most of the noise that came from the group came from those two, the other three just sort of sat, watched, and occasionally made commentary about what was going on. Most of the rest of Ben's Snap and Instagram story was Jay and Carlos, wrestling, arguing, and just being all around rowdy. He snuck some pictures of Mal too, but for the most part it was the other two boys.

At some point, not that he really noticed, he ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours. He only woke up because his phone was going off. Looking at the time he saw that it was around 4:30 AM and it was his mom calling him. Answering, voice still groggily he told him mom that he was fine and that he just ended up falling asleep at Chad's house. He knew his story would get backed up and he wouldn't have to worry about Chad's parents ratting him out because they were currently out of town - it's the only reason Chad threw the party in the first place. She accepted the answer but told him he wasn't allowed to go this long without checking, he apologized and that was the end of that.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked over to see Mal standing closer to the north side of the roof, staring out at the city. He glanced around, Jay and Evie was on his phone, Carlos seemed to have passed at as well, using Evie's legs as a pillow.

Stretching, yawning, trying to get that last remainder of sleep out of his system, he got up and walked over to the blonde. He looked at her then out to the many building below them, the sun slowly raising in front of them. She wasn't kidding, it was a beautiful sight, but he turned back to her and he thought that that sight had nothing on her.

"For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful." Even though he spoke softly, in the quite of the early morning it sounded louder.

She smiled, nodding, her eyes still on the sunset rising in front of them. She didn't know he was talking about her. His eyes dropped to his feet, a small smile on his lips. He looked back up to see her looking at him, an different expression on her face then he was used to seeing. It seemed soft, vulnerable. It made her look that much more beautiful.

"Why did you decide to come with us?" The question threw him off guard, it was deeper than he thought he would get with her at this time. But he might as well be honest.

"You." The answer was so blunt and honest, he wasn't sure that's the answer she was expecting from the expression on her face. She looked away, eyes casted down. "Why did you invite me to come with?" She shrugged and to him, it gave the vibe that she wasn't really sure.

He took a step forward, opening his mouth to say something when Evie's voice broke the spell once again. "Mal, we gotta head back."

Without much talk, they all started to make their way back to Evie's car, Evie dropping Ben off at Chad's before leaving again. It wasn't until Ben crashed on Chad's couch that he noticed that he didn't get any of Mal's contact info. No number, no Snapchat, nothing. Closing his eyes, he let out a groan, the sound being muffled by the couch pillow.

By ten, Chad was up and since Chad was up that meant Ben had to be up. A cup of ice water on his head made sure of it. "Wakey wakey Benny, you gotta help me clean up."

Staring at his friend, water dripping down his face, a glare set. "Couldn't wake me up any other way?"

"Nah. You ditched me for the Loser's Club, it's what you get." The comment annoyed him, knowing that was a jab at Mal and her friends. Even though Chad knew Jay and Evie were sort of the opposite of loser's at Audaron.

"Whatever," getting up, he stretched and went about helping Chad clean his mess of a house so his parents wouldn't know he threw another party. He did get his revenge for the wake up call, pushing Chad into the pool as soon as they walked outside to start picking up scattered cups around the back yard.

As Monday came around, Ben was on a mission to make sure by the end of the day that he would get Mal's number. Now that he actually got a chance to really talk to her, he didn't want to miss any more time getting to know her. When lunch came around, instead of sitting at his usual table with Chad and the guys, he went straight towards were Mal was, "Is this spot taken?" Nodding toward the empty spot to her left.

She looked up at him, a smirk playing on her lips. "We let you tag along one night and now you wanna join the Rotten Four?"

"Rotten Four?" Amusement evident in his voice as he took a spot next to her.

"Hi."

"Hey."

They stared at each other, smiling, but like always the moment was broken this time by Jay. "Hey," he leaned forward, smirking at the two of them.

Mal decided to ignore him, only giving him a small glance under her lashes before turning her attention back to Ben. "So why are you gracing us with your presence today?"

He pulled out his phone, "I wanted your number," he smiled softly, a hopeful look in his eyes. He wasn't so sure now if he was going to be able to get it, there was a totally different vibe from now and Friday night.

She narrowed her eyes at him, tilting her head. Seconds ticked by and he was about to just put his phone away, deal with the embarrassment he was starting to feel when she grabbed it. (She also had to grab his hand to use the touchpass to unlock it.) A minute later it was back in his hands, Mal's number now added into his contacts. "Now return the favor." She nodded to his phone.

Pulling up her name, he sent a quick text with his name before his name was called. He looked over to see Chad and Audrey staring at him, trying to figure out what he was doing with them instead of sitting at his usual spot. His response was give them the same gesture but not moving from where he was seated. He liked the "Rotten Fours" company, they were entertaining and fun. Not that he didn't like Chad and that group but it's a completely different vibe.

A better vibe.

And a lot of that had to do with the girl sitting to his right.

The following month after, every Monday, Ben would join the Rotten Four at their table. He and Mal texted a lot as well, mostly at night around 1 AM. He didn't mind the lack of sleep he was getting from it, he took power naps during study hall and slept in during the weekends. He was up at that time most nights anyways doing homework.

His friends weren't to happy about this new routine he picked up, and they never let him forget it. "Benny Bear, they're almost constantly in detention." "Don't get me wrong, they're awesome on the field but they're bad news." The only person that didn't seem to really mind was Doug, though Doug was already known for hanging out with Evie - they were constantly partners during labs. He didn't care what they thought, and the more the talked shit the more they just pushed him towards them. He knew they were wrong about the Rotten Four, in his heart he knew.

They were walking outside the campus - Ben, Chad, and Audrey - heading towards the field when they spotted Mal under the bleachers with Jay. "Look at her!" The disgust in Audrey's voice aware to anyone in hearing distance. "She's been caught smoking weed at least three times this _week_."

"So?" Ben turned toward her, shrugging.

"So?! It's gateway drugs! Soon enough she'll be snorting pot and pumping heroine into her system." All he could do was roll his eyes. "I told you, Benny Boo, they're a corruption. If you keep hanging around them, soon enough you'll be brain washed to like..." she stopped, her lips drawing in a tight line as she thought what to say, "you'll be holding up liquor stores!"

"Audrey, you're wrong about them."

Chad decided it was time to throw in his two cents, "No man, I'm pretty sure I heard Jay say he stole some dudes wallet more than once."

Shaking his head, he couldn't waste his time with them. Instead, he just continued on his way to the field for practice when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw a text from Mal. _Stop looking so grumpy, you'll get lines and ruin your face._ He looked over at her to see that she was watching him with a smirk, joint between her lips as she took a drag. Shaking his head again, he put his phone in his pocket and gave a small wave before continuing to his destination.

Jay got scolded by the coach for showing up high. Chad smirked and Ben might have "accidentally" tripped the blond.

That coming Friday, he made his way to Mal's locker, leaning against the one next to hers, books in hand, and smile gracing his lips. "Hi."

She closed her locker and looked at him, curiously. "Hi." He's come back her locker more than once, walking with her to science class, but they were both aware that currently this was out of his way. His class was actually on the other side of campus.

His eyes flicked toward the new graffiti gracing her door - and apart of the doors next to her locker - before looking back at her. "So I was thinking..."

"Yes?" She leaned against her own locker, holding the books against her chest.

"This Saturday do you want to go on a date?" He could tell the question caught her off guard, though he can't really be sure why. It's been a couple months, it's not exactly like he hid the fact that he liked her. Audrey's distain for Mal really helped give it away if nothing else did.

"This Saturday?"

He licked his lips, "Yeah. Is that... does that work for you?" All of a sudden he was thinking that he was reading what he thought was mutual attraction wrong.

"Um." He watched as her lower lip disappeared behind her front top teeth. Seconds ticked by before she finally answered. "Um. Yeah. Yeah that sounds..." she nodded. "Yeah, Saturday works."

He smiled, a little forced, even though she didn't seem that excited about it, she still agreed. She wasn't exactly one to say something to spare people's feelings. "Alright. Awesome. I'll pick you up around 11?"

"P-pick me up?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" He's never been to her house, not that he really cared, she's never been to his house.

She was silent again, licking her lips and looking off past him. He let the seconds pass, not pressuring her to answer but knowing the time between classes was coming to an end and he still had to make it across campus. "Yeah," came her answer, eventually. "I'll... I'll text you the address."

And she did, by the end of the day, he finally got a message from her containing where she lived. As soon as he got the answer, he went into action to figure out what exactly it was that he could do. It took him pretty much the rest of the week but he figured it out. There was this spot down by Lake Michigan that he knew from camping with his parents, if he got Doug to help him out he could set it up before he picked up Mal and have it set up for a surprise. Doug even promised to stick around so the food wouldn't get snatched until they got there and once they did he'd take off.

Doug's a good guy.

On Friday, instead of heading out with the rest of his friends to go to a pre-party party, he and Doug went out to collect all the things he'll need for the date tomorrow. They went from store to store, searching and picking up everything that would be needed for what he hopes would be the best first date he could give Mal. She gave him a feeling that he never experienced before she walked into his life - or flashed before his eyes as he scanned a living room - and he wanted to make this first date as special as she made him feel - whether she knows that she did that or not.

It was around 7 when they got everything and was getting back into his car when he got a text from Mal. _Are you going to the party tonight?_

**_Maybe for a bit, I don't want to hear Chad lol_ **

_Let me know if you are._

**_Okay_ **

He set his phone down and looked over at Doug who was giving him a knowing look. "What?" Doug shook his head, a smile appearing on his face. "Dude."

"That was Mal right?"

"Yeah...?"

"You always smile at your phone when it's her," Doug smirked at him, buckling himself in.

"I do not."

"Yeah you do."

"I -" Ben stopped, Doug giving him a look to call his bullshit. "Yeah, whatever." He put his car in reverse and headed back home to start getting the food cooked.

There was only a couple of the food that needed to be cooked so by 10, they were done, all the food being placed in the fridge. He checked his phone for the time and saw that he had a couple of texts from Mal and a couple dozen from Chad trying to figure out where he was. He ignored Chad and opened his chat with Mal. One of the texts he got from her was just a picture of Jay sitting on top of Carlos and another was telling him that he didn't have to worry about telling her if he was going to the party, the Rotten Four were going to go adventure around the downtown areas of Chicago.

**_Okay_ **

He wasn't sure why he was disappointed by that but he was. He was going to get to see her tomorrow, she didn't cancel the date or anything - and there was a part of him that was prepared for her too.

When Doug asked if they were going to head to the party he shook his head no, Ben thinking it best if he got a good nights rest before the date.  
__

He was walking down stairs, a text from Doug saying that he was waking him up. It was only 9:30 but he knew that Doug was going to need that to fill up his car, get down to the lake, and then set up the picnic. As he walked into the kitchen, his mom had already let Doug in. "This girl must be special," Belle said, smiling over her glass of as she watched Ben and Doug starting to take the containers out of the fridge. "You're up early on a Saturday, you made food," she let out a little hum, raising her eyebrows.

Ben decided to ignore her, helping fill up the car before giving Doug a high five, telling him he'll be there by 11:30 and then Doug was off. As soon as the car was out of the driveway, Ben turned back to the house and jumped in the shower. It didn't take him long for him to be ready and he was on his bike, directions to Mal's house in his phone, and he was off. A spare helmet was strapped to the bike seat, safety first. As he drove up to his destination, he was taken aback by the appearance. The yard was filled with bikes, tricycles, and plastic slides. The grass had more dirt then grass, the house had chipping paint on every inch, and it looked like the porch sets were broken. It was really the opposite of what he was expecting - though he's not really sure anyone expects to see this sight.

Walking up to the door, skipping the broken step, and rang the doorbell. Shortly after, Mal was at the door literally taking his breath away. "You're beautiful." He watched as the blush appear on her cheeks, even behind the makeup. He was completely at a loss for words. It wasn't until Evie cleared her voice that he was able to find his voice again. Holding up one of the helmets, he gave a shy smile. "I hope you like bikes."

Then they were off once again, heading towards The Spot. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face as he felt her hands tighten around his waist.

"We still got a little ways to go," he told her as they parked. He quickly pulled out his phone to text Doug that they parked. They were crossing a bridge, talking, joking, and in the back of the mind he couldn't help but wonder why he was so worried about today. "Can I ask about were you live?"

She was in front of him, only by a couple of steps, so he didn't miss as her shoulders tensed at the question. She leaned against the bridge railing, over looking the little creek below before looking up at him. "It's my foster home." This was the first that he was hearing about this, he wonders if she ever mentioned it and he just completely ignorant to the fact.

"You live there with Evie?" Thinking to the fact that he saw her inside. She nodded, turning back to continue walking down the bridge. "So tell me something you've never told anyone."

The tension from her shoulders seemed to disappear, she looked behind him letting out a hum. "My middle name is Bertha."

"Bertha?"

"Yeah. My mom's just doing what she was best at, being truly evil." She let out a light chuckle but he could tell the joke was to mask whatever she was truly feeling.

"Mine's Florian," he offered.

"Florian? So princely. It fits." That smile that made his heart skip was flashing at him over her shoulder. "Still bad though."

"Not as bad as Bertha but," he chuckled, "yeah, it could have been better." He's pretty sure his parents wanted to be royalty at some point in their life.

As they got closer to their final destination, he asked her to close her eyes. "Close my eyes?" Her eyes narrowed, suspicion starting to sink in.

"What? Don't you trust me," he held out his hands for her to take.

She stared at his hands before slowly lifting her own, setting them in his and closing her eyes. "If I end up getting murdered, I'm haunting your ass forever."

He laughed, "That's fair."

Leading her through the woods, telling when to lift her foot, watch her step. As soon as they got to the opening where the whole set up was able to be seen, he shared a look with Doug who gave him a thumbs up before taking off back towards his own car on the other side of the park. "Okay, you can open your eyes." As soon as she did, a sound of shock came from her. She looked back at him and he saw a look of surprise and blissful happiness. That expression, the look he saw painted on her face, made all the work he went through to think this through and set it up made it all worth it. She didn't even wait for him when she started her quick descent down to the blue blanket.

He followed behind her, enjoying the child-like happiness that radiating off her.

She looked out at the lake before turning around to him, "I can't believe you did this."

This time it was his turn to shrug, "You deserve the best, I tried to have that happen." His aunt says he gets his hopeless romantic side form his mom. He gestured down at the ground for her to take a seat, following behind her and sitting across from her. He took the first bit of food out of the basket, strawberries - which according Evie was Mal's favorite - and placed it between them.

From there, conversation spiked as they eat. He suggested taking a swim but she didn't seem to want to go for it so instead they went for a walk around the edge of the lake. "Me and my family have been coming here every summer since I was two." He pointed to one of the docks, "I tried to do a flip off that dock and cracked my head open for the first time when I was four." He pointed at another section by the lake, "And I had my first kiss there. It didn't go well, she slapped me." Mal let out a laugh, "Don't laugh, it really put a damper on my confidence."

"Yeah, really put a stop to you asking girls out." She rolled her eyes before looking around and pointing to her own area. "Anything happen over there?"

"Yeah, Chad got depants'd."

Slowly they made their way back over to where the picnic was set up, sitting back down at their original spots. Mal took another strawberry, taking a bit out of it, and all Ben could do was stare at her lips, watching as they moved and wanting nothing more then to be able to kiss them. "Mal." His voice was soft, she looked at him with a questioning look. "I would like to kiss you." She gave him a look, but the more he kept his hold on her eyes, her face softened.

"Well?" Her eyebrows raised after seconds ticked by and he didn't make a move. He smiled, taking that for what it was, and leaned forward lips capturing hers. It was better than he could ever imagine.


End file.
